Odd Stares & Odd Surprises
by YaoiGlitchloid
Summary: Everybody seems to be ignoring poor Piko, and on no day more perfect than his birthday. However, is everything as it seems? (Rated T to be on the safe side.)


Piko walked down the hallway, hands in his pockets. He was noticing the way everybody was looking at him. They were all giving him the strangest looks, looks that lasted for no more than a second before they turned their heads away swiftly, realising he was looking back at them. He was confused and just the slightest bit nervous by this point. All day, nobody had talked to him, all they had done was give him strange looks, and on today of all days as well.

_Have I done something?_ Piko asked himself, _Are they all ignoring me on purpose?_

He continued to walk, noticing a pink-and-white blur swiftly approaching. It got closer and closer, other colours such as light green and purple were starting to join this blur. Piko recognised it, or rather, her.

It was Rion.

_Will she give me that same look?_ The confused albino asked himself, _Is she ignoring me as well?_  
>Rion came closer and closer. As she approached, Piko noticed she was covered in a white powder, and a few slithers of blue and green. Flour and icing?<p>

Piko remained silent, though he asked himself questions in his head.

Rion looked at Piko, a smile spreading across her face as she did so. Just the sight of this took a litle weight off of Piko's shoulders; he was relieved that at least someone was giving him a happy smile today, and to make it even better, she started talking to him.

"Hey, Piko-Kun!" Rion beamed, dusting a little flour off of her skirt, "What's up?"  
>"Oh, I'm fine." Piko replied.<br>"Just fine?" Rion asked.  
>"Just fine." Piko confirmed with a nod, he still hadn't shaken off all those stares he'd be given.<p>

With a giggle, Rion answered, "Well, I'd love to talk, but I need to go."  
>She pointed towards the flour down her dress and spoke, "I'm kinda baking, and I think my recipe might be ready, I need to go get it out the oven."<p>

Rion was probably the best cook in the entire Vocaloid mansion, she wore a cooking maid outfit for a good reason. She made the most delicious cookies, cakes, you name it. Piko, being a sweet-toothed teenager who usually had nothing better to do with his life, was always the test subject/first to sample Rion's cooking, and it tasted like heaven every time.

"Ooh, can I come with?" Piko asked, "Please?"  
>Rion's bright smile turned into a nervous, twitching frown. She rubbed the back of her head with her gloved hand and spoke with a voice riddled with anxiety.<br>"I...Uh...Well, you see..." She tried to speak, awkwardly turning away from Piko, "I can't..."  
>"Rion?" Piko asked, "Are you ok?"<br>"Huh?" Rion replied, still turned away from the young boy, "Oh, yeah, sure."  
>"Positive?" Piko asked.<br>Rion only nodded, not wanting to speak a reply, for her replies were only coming out as jumbled, jumping messes.

"Look, I really need to go." Rion said, turning her body in the direction opposite of Piko.  
>"A-All I asked was if I could come with..." Piko whimpered, "A 'yes' or a 'no' would've been fine..."<br>"Uh, no." Rion said, beginning to walk away, "Sorry."  
>Before Piko could say anything else, before he could ask Rion to stay a little longer or give him an explanation for her sudden change in character, she had walked off.<p>

Piko sighed. He stared at the floorboards as he wrapped his arms around his waist, embracing himself as just the littlest bit of self-comfort. He continued to make his way down the hall, not knowing where exactly he was going. Every morning, his reasons for waking up and getting out of bed would be to spend time with the others, they were all one, big family. But now, it seemed like that entire family was ignoring him. On the one day that Piko loved, that very day, was the day everybody chose to despise him. The looks, he'd received them from everybody. Miku, Rana, Meiko, Luka, Gumi...Everybody.

_I've done something..._Piko thought,_ So they've decided to ignore me...what did I do? Did they purposefully choose today to ignore me just to effect me more?_  
>He sighed, letting his arms dangle loose.<br>_Not even Rion wanted to hang out with me..._Piko thought, _She probably only talked to me so I wouldn't talk to her..._

_Clearly everyone hates me, for whatever I've done..._Piko told himself, I_ should probably just spend the rest of the day in my room...Where no one can give me those looks..._  
>With yet another sigh, Piko turned in the opposite direction and walked over to his bedroom door.<p>

* * *

><p>Piko checked his phone. The time was 5:00PM. He hadn't left his room since that morning, he'd been cooped up inside his room for about 4 hours now. Sure, it was lonely. But it was better than having those looks.<p>

He clicked the phone off, tossing it back onto the bed. He had ran out of things to do. Within the hours he had spent in his room, he'd read the few books he owned, he'd listened to every album he owned, and regardless of how many naps he took, it wouldn't bring him to the end of the day. Time was just moving slower for some reason.

_I don't know what I did wrong..._Piko thought, pacing up and down the room,_ I don't know why they're ignoring me..._  
>He sighed to himself.<br>_It's not like I'm not used to being ignored anyway..._Piko continued to think to himself, _Barely anybody around here even talks to me anyway..._

But then, something unexpected happened. There was a knock on the door. Piko turned to said door, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Who was knocking on his door, and why? Curious, he approached the door. He laid a hand on the door handle, taking in a deep breath. Maybe there was somebody who had noticed how sheltered he was being? Maybe it was Rion? Who knew?

Piko opened the door a tiny bit, he looked through it with his green eye, and was able to make out who it was immediately.  
>Len.<br>Piko opened the door even more, revealing his full body as Len smiled at him.

"Hi, Piko-Kun." Len said, his voice was both enthusiastic and tired at the same time. It sounded like he was tired, but still trying to sound happy.  
>"Hey, Len-Kun." Piko answered, "How are you?"<br>"I'm good." Len nodded, followed by an exhausted yawn that contagously spread to Piko.

"So..." Piko leaned against the door frame, "How can I help you?"  
>"Well, Piko...I haven't seen you all day." Len pointed out, "I got a little worried is all."<p>

An uncontrollable smile took over Piko's mouth. For the second time that day he felt happy that he had been noticed, that someone had come to check on him out of worry. Surely somebody who was mad at him or was purposefully ignoring him wouldn't come straight to his room and check on him, right? Len was worried, and it made Piko feel oddly appreciated. Even if everyone else was ignoring him, he felt at least a little comfort in the fact that one person was showing him a sign of consideration.

"Oh, Len, there's no need to worry about me." Piko said, "I'm fine."  
>"Sure?" Len asked.<br>Piko nodded, still smiling over the fact he had been noticed by at least one other person in the mansion.  
>"Ok...If you say so." Len shrugged.<p>

Before Piko could answer, Len said something else.  
>"Also, I wanted to show you something." Len pointed out, taking a hold of one of Piko's hands, "Follow me."<br>Piko opened his mouth to speak, to protest. But he quickly shut it, deciding to let Len whisk him away and show him whatever he was going to show him.

The two ran down the halls, Len still keeping a firm yet gentle grip on Piko's hand as they ran. Piko remained silent, reluctantly following Len to where ever he was going in the first place. Every now and again, Len looked behind him, to catch a glimpse of Piko. And whenever he did, he would quickly turn back the other way and keep running. Piko was starting to get worried. The sight of somebody giving him a one-second look before turning their head away, it was just the look he'd been given constantly earlier that day. The look that made Piko feel neglected and unloved, and now the one person that had shown him a sign of consideration was giving him that same one-second stare. Piko withdrew the temptation to sigh, he knew it was worthless to even do such a thing. He just continued to run behind the blonde, his hand in his gently.

After what felt like hours and hours, but was somewhere close to a couple of minutes, Len stopped running, he stopped in front of a metallic set of double doors. He allowed an exhausted Piko to pant out a few tired breaths as the duo came to a standstill.

"What...are..." Piko panted, "You...showing me?"  
>"You'll see." Len spoke with a small giggle, walking over to Piko's back.<br>"Where...are you...going?" Piko asked.  
>"Piko, just stay still a second." Len said.<p>

Before Piko could say anything, he found his eyes were being covered by Len's hands.  
>"Len, what are you doing?" Piko asked with a panicking voice.<br>"Just trust me." Len said, "Now, walk forward."  
>Piko sighed to himself. He blindly walked forward, eyes still covered. He didn't know whether or not to trust Len. Sure, Len was the one coming to his room to check on him, but he had given him that look. The look that made Piko scared.<p>

"Ok, ok, ok!" He heard Len's voice, "Now stay still!"  
>Piko silently obeyed, nodding his head and folding his arms as a simple answer. Len took his hands away, and the moment he did, Piko opened his heterochromatic eyes to an unexpected sight.<p>

"Happy Birthday!"

The entire room was covered in banners and balloons, and other cute decorations. In front of Piko stood every last inhabitant of the mansion, all the Vocaloids, a few of the UTAUs, the CeVIO's, etc. They were all smiling and cheering, and in the middle of them stood a cake, covered in white icing. The edges were decorated with a pattern of green and blue, the same colour as Piko's eyes.

He stood there in complete and utter shock, the surprised teenager covered up his open mouth with his hand, not knowing how to react. It all made so much sense now. They weren't ignoring him, they were just trying to conceal this surprise. Rion was baking the birthday cake, and she didn't want Piko to see it. That's why she walked off. Piko felt a smile take over his mouth as he realised he wasn't hated or despised. He was loved. Everybody was there, not a single person was missing. He could even feel a few tears form from how his emotions were starting to get to him.

Len wrapped an arm around Piko's shoulder, and whispered into his ear, "Happy Birthday, Piko-Kun."  
>Everybody began to cheer, Len wiping away Piko's tears in the process. Piko turned to face him, and with a bright smile he said, "Thank you."<p> 


End file.
